THE FIRST SCHOOL EXPERIENCE 79

who ease their babies off breast-feeding gradually,
they bear in mind not only the immediate goal of
independence but the necessity of preserving the
earlier relationsh^^^ffcipation from any at-
tadm$t&^^ shun surgical and wound-

ing methods. There must be no open criticism of
mother, no censure of home rule.

ESTABLISHING SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE

Not all children are too unreleased from home
attachments to make a ready adjustment to school
life. Most of them swing readily into recognition
of the double sponsorship and authority over them
and the companionship of other children. But
when a child is mother-bound, his social accept-
ance is hampered not only by his immaturity but
by the very habits and behavior which his resist-
ance to his immaturity has developed in him. His
crying, his thumb-sucking, his boasting, his incon-
tinence, his refusal to work with others or do what
the rest of the children are doing—all place him in
an unfavorable light. He is either a "bad boy/' or
"he doesn't count, he's always that way/1 or he's
"spoiled."

Too often our methods of approach to a handi-